When Quirky Meets Geeky
by Teddiursa48
Summary: When Delia goes to Wisconsin and meets Joey Rooney, and instant friendship is born. But what if it's more than that? What about when Delia goes back to Chicago? Continuation of Feud-a-Rooney (during epilogue). Part set during College Life. Any readers interested should read my other Fanfics first, there will be references to The Truth, College Life, Grad-a-Rooney and Feud-a-Rooney.
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1**

***Delia's POV***

Work at the museum is going great. I was surprised that the manager had let me create an exhibit for Penelope Harkniss. I've got a lot of artifacts being shipped in from all over America and quite a lot have gotten here already. The exhibit opens in a few days, and I'm hoping I get at least a few more deliveries before then.

Jasmine, Garrett, Lindy and Logan are all going to university together and they moved into their dorms a few days ago. Even though it's only been a few days, I miss them all really badly! It's different, not seeing them everyday, and I haven't gone to Rumble Juice in a while because it's too boring without your 4 best friends.

I woke up one morning and got ready to go to work. Mom was already gone to work, so I left without a sound and drove to the museum. On the way, I heard my phone go off. When I pulled into the parking lot, I checked it and saw that Lindy had texted me.

_"Hey, Deels! I just had english class and, turns out, Sherri is going to this university. :( ," _it read.

_"Oh, I pity you!" _ I texted in reply.

_"Lol,"_ she said, almost instantly. I put away the phone and got out of my car. After unlocking the door, I went to the staff lounge to check my email.

I had gotten two confirmation emails telling me that more artifacts had been shipped and were on the way. I shut down the computer and went out to the room where my exhibit was soon to be. Several artifacts such as spear heads and furs had been placed behind glass barriers, but most of the display cases were still empty. I pleaded that more shipments would arrive before it opened, because, the few things that were here weren't good enough for museum goers. But, I guesss the truckers work as they do, and if there aren't any more items on display in less than a week, that's all I can do.

Besides checking my email and rearranging the artifacts in my exhibit, I helped one of the travelling exhibits move out. By the time the day was over, it wasn't all out of there, but a lot was. I have to admit, we did a pretty good job transferring the artifacts to the trucks, because there was a lot of stuff and we got almost all of it out. Not to mention that these were ancient, priceless artifacts and we had to be really careful moving them, seeing as most were very delicate and fragile.

Before I left, the museum director called me into his office.

"Ms. Delfano, I just recieved some news," he told me, as I approached his desk.

"Yes, sir?" I replied.

"One of your shipments isn't able to be shipped directly here to Chicago," he told me.

"Oh," I said, with disappointment. "Where's the closest they can bring it?" he checked his computer then turned back to me.

"Looks like Stevens Point, Wisconsin," he told me.

"Pretty far," I said.

"Unfortunately, yes," he replied.

"If they were to ship it to Wisconsin, where would it go?" I asked.

"Looks like a collectors' shop in north Stevens Point," he told me, glancing at the screen again.

"Would I be able to pick it up there?" I asked, in hope.

"Possibly, but you would have to pay your own way," the director said.

"Would it count as hours?" I asked.

"Yes," he said.

"I'll go," I said, settling it. "Anything for Penelope Harkniss!"


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

***Joey's POV***

With Maddie and Liv off in college and no more Willow to bother me, I was bored most of the time. I had opened a small collectors' shop on the northern outskirts of town. I sell mostly comics books and things that I'd gathered over the years, along with some things of Artie's, whom I had called a truce with. In return, I hired Artie part time, and he runs the place when I'm busy with other things.

There was an old shack there that Dad had made for Parker a few years back, and since he no longer wanted it, I transformed it into a small business. So now, since I'm finished school, this is what I'm doing with my life. Liv's giving me some merchandise based around Space Werewolves that I'm selling. Of course part of the profit goes to the company, but it gets me more customers, so I'm happy. The shack is a _lot_ bigger than I'd imagined. Of course it is Parker we're talking about. So after three days of remodeling, it looked like a proffessional business.

Parker told me that, since it was his clubhouse that I was using, he should be able to have his tunnelling business there too. I told him that since it was a tunnelling business, to dig a basement in the building and do it down there. I was only joking, but he actually did it! To be honest, it actually looks better than up here!

So now Maddie's been married to Diggie for more than a year, and as far as I'm concerned, she's doing well in her Sophomore year. She keeps telling me to sell sports stuff, but I've only got so much room and the more she asks me, the less I want to do it.

I got a call the other day. A man asked me if he could ship some sort of package to my store for one of his employees to pick up. He said that they needed artifacts for their museum and it couldn't be brought directly to there. I agreed and told him that it was fine to send the package here and I'd let him know when it arrived. I hope I did the right thing and it won't turn out to be any kind of scam. It is weird that the package had to be shipped here, and not anywhere else. I mean, I just opened this place and it isn't _that_ big. I guess that's just what happened. What _reason_ could there possibly be that it would need to be sent to my shop? 


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

***Delia's POV***

I got called into the director's office again today. He said that the guy that ran the collectors' shop allowed the package to be sent there and I could go pick it up as soon as it came. I was pretty excited, but it was going to be cutting it close. The exhibit opens next Monday and hopefully I can get to Wisconsin and back before then. I just hoped that the courier was fast and I could get there and back in time.

So, some more packages arrived and I had to rearrange all the artifacts _again_. Even though I _love_ Penelope's history, this is starting to get really annoying. So there are new furs that I got in, and I need mannequins. So when I got into the director's office, he was on the phone, so I had to wait until he was done.

"Hey, sir? I need to borrow some-"

"Oh, Delia," he interrupted. "I just got a call from the owner of the collectors' shop, your package just arrived."

"Mannequins..." I said.

"What?" he asked.

"Nothing," I told him. "That's great news!"

"Okay, then!" he replied. "You can leave as soon as you want!"

"Great!" I said. "I'll leave first thing in the morning!"

That's exactly what I did. By 9:30, I was on my way to Stevens Point, Wisconsin. The drive was almost four hours, and I had to stop for lunch. So I got to Stevens Point by about 2:30. After arriving, I decided that I'd stay for the weekend so I checked into a hotel nearby before heading to the collectors' shop.

The shop wasn't nearly as big as I thought it would be. It was actually really small compared to most stores I've been to. I went in and looked around. There was no one at the checkout so I browsed around for a bit. There were comic books, collectable cards, a few action figures, the typical stuff you'd see in a collectors' shop. Then I looked on the back wall and saw the biggiest collection of Space Werewolves merchandise I've ever seen!

There were original Tristan Lycanth figurines that were based on the graphic novel. There was a copy of the graphic novel itself. There were action figures based on Liv Rooney's version of Tristan, movie posters, movie-based comic books, everything! Whoever owned this place was the biggest Space Werewolves fan ever! I flipped through one of the comic books. Whoever did the drawings did a pretty good interpretation of Liv.

I was a pretty big fan of Space Werewolves myself, but this was ridiculous! Then I heard someone come in from the back room, which happened to be an old camper attached to the building. Whoever made this place must've been on a tight budget. I turned around to face a man, that looked around my age, with black hair that was styled with gel. He wore glasses and a unzipped hoodie with a graphic tee under it.

"Hi," I said. "Delia Delfano, I'm here to pick up the artifacts for the museum."

"Joey Rooney," he replied. "I'll get your package, it's in back." Joey went back out the door into the camper. When he returned, he handed me a box. "Here you are."

"Thanks," I said, and left the shop.


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4**

***Joey's POV***

After Delia left, I went back to the back room that was just a camper. I didn't know what to do with the huge gaping window in the side of the shack, so I attached Dad's old camper to it and use it as a back room. Plus, it came with a built in door, and windows so I can see when customers are coming. Perfect right? I felt a little bad just letting Delia leave so soon. I mean, she came all the way from Chicago, Illinois to get that package, we should've at least talked for a while.

***Delia's POV***

I went back to the hotel room after leaving the store. Joey'd seemed like a nice guy. I know we'd barely said anything to each other, and as far as I knew, he was a criminal. There was just something about him that seemed really friendly. I called the director of the museum and told him I'd gotten the package and I was planning on staying until Sunday. So I'd be here for two days, seeing as it was Friday today.

The whole rest of the day, I couldn't get Joey off my mind. I know it sounds weird, but I think I left too soon. I barely even talked to him. I felt bad, he really did seem like a nice guy. I was going to go back to that store tomorrow and have a coversation with him.

***Joey's POV***

The next day, I was sitting on the couch in the camper/back room. Business was slow, as usual and Artie had come and gone, dropping by with coffee and donuts. So I was bored out of my mind. I wished I had a more elaborate place. It would draw in more customers. So far today, a kid bought a trading card, a guy bought a action figure as a birthday present for his daughter and an old lady came in and asked to use the bathroom. Which, I of course, didn't have. So I made $13.00 and got a butterscotch candy from and old woman that needed to pee. This is just _so incredibly exciting_. But then I heard someone else come in. I got up off the couch and opened the rusty camper door out into the shop. Then I realized the person that had come in was Delia.

"Hi, Delia," I said, walking out from behind the counter.

"Hi, Joey," she replied.

"What bring you here?" I asked.

"Oh, bored, just wanted to talk I guess," she said, browsing around the store some more.

"Did you want to come in the back and talk?" I offered.

"I thought that only employees were allowed back there," she said.

"I can make an exception," I said. So we walked back into the camper and sat down. "So you work at a museum?" I asked.

"Yeah," she replied.

"You work there long?" I asked.

"No, just a few months, I only just graduated high school last June," she told me.

"Really? Me too," I said. "What high school'd you go to?"

"DITKA High," she told me.

"Ridgewood," I said.

"I like your place," she commented, I could tell she found it funny.

"Used to be my brother's clubhouse," I told her.

"You're kidding," she said.

"No," I told her. "Hardly spent a dime. "My Dad owns the land, I only live a couple blocks down."

"Oh, cool," she said. "So, I guess you're a _huge _Space Werewolves fan, going by the enormous collection of merchandise based around it."

"Well, yeah, and I get rare merchandise shipped special from Liv," I explained. Delia looked at me skeptically.

"How would you know Liv Rooney?" she asked.

"She's my sister," I told her.

"Oh, really?" she asked, looking suspicious.

"Yeah, she and her twin sister Maddie, moved out about a year ago," I said.

"I thought you had a brother," she said.

"I do, two older sisters, Liv and Maddie, and a younger brother, Parker," I told her.

"So you're Liv Rooney's brother?" she asked.

"Yes," I confirmed.

"I want proof," Delia said. I scowled.

"I'd have to wait until my co-owner, Artie gets here," I told her, pulling out my phone and sending Artie a text. Shortly after Artie arrived, Delia and I went to my house.

"Ok," I said. I picked up my tablet. "I'll FaceGab my sister." I hit Liv's name in the contacts. It took a while for her to pick up.

"Hi, Joey!" she said answering.

"Hey, Liv," I replied. "How's college?"

"Pretty good," she replied, twirling her hair. "Who's that?"

"This is Delia," I said. "She doesn't believe you're my sister."

"Oh, I'm his sister," she replied.

"Ok, then," Delia said. "What colour are my socks?" She held her foot to the camera of the tablet.

"Gray," she replied, shuddering. "You should try something pink or blue, and by the way, why did you ask me that?"

"She wanted to know if you were you or a program made to look like you were FaceGabbing me," I explained.

"He's right," Delia said.

"Oh," Liv said. "Well I'm a person."

"You believe me now?" I asked Delia.

"Yeah," she replied.

"Thanks, Liv," I said.

"No problem," she replied. "Bye, Joey."

"See you, Liv," I replied, and turned off my FaceGab. I turned to Delia. "So, since we're here, you waana just hang for a while?"

"Sure," she said, so we went out to hang on the couch.

***Delia's POV***

How weird is it that I'm hanging out with a guy I met yesterday? Not to mention that he's the owner of the store where I had to get my artifacts.

"So how old are you anyway?" he asked me.

"18," I replied.

"Me too," he said. "So what do you do at the museum?"

"I own an exhibit," I told him.

"About..."

"Penelope Harkniss," I said.

"Who?" he asked. So I explained to Joey who Penelope was and her story. "Woah, she sounds awesome!"

"Really?" I asked.

"Yeah, we could write a comic book about her!" he suggested.

"Do you think people would buy it?" I asked him.

"Of course," he said. "If we made it a little more exciting with a little more action, it would be epic! I could sell them at my store!" That's what we did, we spent the rest of the day working on a comic book about Penelpe Harkniss. That's when Joey's Mom came in.

***Joey's POV***

Mom came in covered in snow! She had left after I'd gone to work but it looked like she'd only been wearing a sweater.

"There's a snowstorm out there, all the roads are closed," Mom announced.

"But my hotel's on the other side of town!" Delia exclaimed.

"Mom, this is my friend, Delia," I introduced her.

"How am I going to get back?!" Delia asked in a panic.

"Don't worry!" Mom said. "You can stay here tonight." Delia looked at me. That wasn't all Mom had to say. "If you don't feel comfortable on the couch, I can put a matress in Joey's room for you." My jaw dropped. Delia had turned bright red, I assumed I had too and we were both speechless.

"Th-that's okay Mrs. Rooney, I'm fine, here on the couch," Delia said, finally breaking the silence.

"Okay, then," Mom said. I'm not sure how hard it was snowing, but Mom wasn't acting normal, I think she might have gotten hit on the head with a chunk of ice.


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5**

***Joey's POV***

I woke up pretty late this morning. I got up and got ready for work. Going downstairs and into the kitchen, I thought about how the comic book was going to sell. I had made copies and I was going to bring them to the shop today. I got something to eat and left the kitchen. I saw Delia on the couch and realized thta she had to go home today. I felt like waking her so she wouldn't get home too late. I checked out the window to see if the roads were cleared. It looked like the plow had gone by recently. I turned back to the couch where Delia lay. I nudged her slightly and she stirred slightly.

"Delia," I whispered. "I think you should probably get on the road."

"Whaa..?" she mumbled.

"You have to go home today, remember?" I told her.

"Ok," she said, waking up. She blinked a few times and woke up fully. "My car's still at your shop."

"I'll walk you down," I suggested. She got up off the couch, straightened her hair and put her glasses on.

"Could I have something to eat first?" Delia asked.

"No problem," I said, and showed her to the kitchen.

"So, where'd you go to high school?" Delia asked me as we sat down at the table.

"Ridgewood High," I told her.

"DITKA," she replied.

"What now?" I asked.

"DITKA High School," she repeated.

"Interesting name," I said.

"Went there with my four best friends," she said.

"Who are..." I said, gesturing for her to keep going.

"Lindy Watson, Logan Watson, Jasmine Kang and Garrett Spenger," she replied.

"Cool," I said. "Ready to go?"

"Sure," she said, getting up. I got up too and we walked outside. While we walked, we talked some more.

"So are you planning on going to college?" I asked her.

"No, are you?" she asked in return.

"No," I said. "I'll stick to the shop for now."

"And I'll stick to the museum," Delia added. I grinned.

"So there's your car," I said. "Guess I'll see you 'round."

"See you around," she said, opening the door. She went to get in, but before I knew it, she had kissed me, closed the door and was gone. She _kissed_ me! Why?

***Delia's POV***

I don't know why I kissed him! Why did I kiss him?! I drove to the hotel as fast as I could. I parked and got all my stuff out. It took a while, but I was so embarrassed, I didn't want him to find out what hotel I was staying in. After checking out, I headed straight for Chicago. No one needed to know about this, ever. I guess I liked him. I mean, he's no alien, but I guess he was cute. I really don't know. I guess I should ask Lindy or Jasmine, I mean they have boyfriends. Lindy's dating Garrett and Jasmine's dating Logan. But I don't want them to know I kissed him! I met him two days ago! Oh, I'm so confused!


	6. Chapter 6

**Joey's POV***

The next I saw of Delia was three years later on the 23rd of August in 2020. It was a coincidence that that was when I saw her because that was when our whole family got together to celebrate Parker going to college. Maddie and Liv had graduated and they had come to visit. I was at the airport waiting for Liv's plane to land. Maddie stood beside me with Diggie. Mom and Dad were with Parker, who was almost 18. He claimed that he didn't want a huge party to celebrate, but knowing Parker, he wanted a giant party

I saw her as I walked around, impatient with Liv for being late. I wandered over to a building and saw her come out.

"Delia?" I asked. She looked up, then towards me.

"Joey?" She asked in reply.

"Yeah, it's me," I said. She walked up to me and gave me a hug.

"Sorry I never came to visit, I've been really busy," she said

"I would've called, but I didn't get your number," I said. We broke from the hug. "About that kiss, did it mean anything?"

"Of course it did," she said, kissing me once again for the first time in three years.

"Are we like a thing now? I asked.

"Sure, if you want," she replied, smirking. 

"So what brings you here to Wisconsin? I asked.

"I came for a conference. The history board is thinking of shutting down our museum," she replied.

"That's terrible," I said. "Oh, here's your cut of the profit from our comic books." I held out $200 to Delia. 

"Our comic book sold this well?" She asked, taking the cash. "This is awesome."

"Yeah," I replied. "I'd say Liv's plane is here by now. I should go."

"Do you mind if I come?" Delia asked. 

"Not at all," I told her.

***Maddie's POV***

We'd been waiting for Liv to arrive for a while when she finally did. Joey had wandered off somewhere, and no one knew where he'd gone. The family had been catching up with her when Joey finally came back. He had someone with him. Mom and Liv seemed to recognize her.

"Hi, Delia!" Mom called.

"Who?" I asked.

"Delia," Liv said. "Joey's friend from three years ago."

"Oh," I said, even though I still didn't understand. After going to Mom and Dad's house for the party, with Delia, Joey stood up.

"I have an announcement!" He said. "Delia and I are a couple now!" Nobody said anything. It didn't seem that anyone cared.

"I have an announcement too," I said, standing up. Diggie looked at me as if to tell me not to say anything. "I'm pregnant." There was silence. Mom looked surprised, Joey and Parker's jaws dropped, Liv was trying not to smirk. Then Dad broke the silence.

"You son of a..!" He yelled at Diggie, then stormed off up the stairs. I was dumbfounded. I ran upstairs, trying not to cry. Diggie ran after me.


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter 7**

***Maddie's POV***

I couldn't help crying. My Dad had just gotten super angry at my husband and I was here carrying his grandchild. I ran to the bathroom and sat on the floor. Tears ran down my face. Diggie ran in after me and sat down too. I put my hand on my forehead.

"I don't know what to do," I said, sniffing. "I didn't know my Dad would act this way."

"It's okay," Diggie said, comforting me.

"I'm sorry he said that to you," I said.

"There's nothing you could've done, it isn't your fault," he told me, wrapping me in a tight hug.

"I love you," I said, sobbing into his shoulder.

"I love you, too," he told me. "Everything's going to be alright."

***Joey's POV***

I felt like punching Dad. He had no right to act like that toward Maddie. Liv stood with her jaw wide open. I felt mine tighten. Delia was silent. She left to go outside. I followed her. Mom had gone upstairs to talk to Dad, so Parker and Liv were the only two left in the room.

"Delia, I didn't know that would happen," I said, catching up to her. "I guess it wasn't the most pleasant way to meet my family."

"I suspect not," Delia said, with a sarcastic look in her eye. I frowned.

"I can't believe I'm going to be an uncle, but under these circumstances, I don't know," I said.

"It'll be okay," Delia said.

***Karen's POV***

"Pete, what was that?!" I asked my husband, demanding an explanation.

"Maddie is _pregnant_!" he shouted.

"I know that, but did you really have to yell at Diggie like that?" I asked.

"Yes!" He replied.

"Why? It wasn't his fault," I told him.

"Yes it was!" he said. I rolled my eyes.

"They've been together for seven years, Pete! Give the boy a chance!" I told him.

"I'm not pleased!" he shouted.

"I know it's hard to take in, but Maddie's twenty-three. You were going to have to accept that we were going to be grandparents eventually," I explained.

"I guess you're right," Pete finally said.

"Thank you," I said.

***Maddie's POV***

After calming down from Dad's outburst, Diggie and I sat down to talk. We hadn't really thought about what we were going to do when the baby got here and I really hadn't thought about it at all. I was almost three weeks and we hadn't even figured out where they were going to sleep or anything. Our apartment was only a one-bedroom, so we were going to need to get a house.

"Diggie, where's our baby going to sleep?" I asked. "They can't have their own room, because our apartment only has one room. We're going to need to move out."

"We'll figure this out as time goes on," he said. "Right now, we need a hotel room, because there's no where to stay for the night here."

"I guess you're right," I said. "This was supposed to be about Parker starting college next month, not a huge deal about our new son or daughter."

"So right now, forget about our baby, and have some fun with your family okay?" Diggie suggested.

"Okay," I agreed, and went back downstairs.


	8. Chapter 8

**Chapter 8**

***Joey's POV***

Parker's party was today. It was pretty fun, but not as fun as it should've been. Maddie and Dad weren't talking and Maddie didn't seem to be having fun. After the party, Delia came over. I brought up making a new comic book, but then I remembered why she was here.

"We should make a sequel to our comic book!" I suggested. Delia's face lit up for a minute, but hen turned sad. "What's wrong?" I asked.

"The reason I'm here, remember, the museum might get shut down?" she reminded me.

"Right," I said. "Maybe, if the board saw our comic book, they'd realized the museum isn't worth shutting down!"

"But the museum itself isn't based entirely on Penelope, though," she explained. "It wouldn't help the other exhibits."

"Oh, " I said. The doorbell rang. Maddie ran downstairs.

"I'll get it!" she called, running to the door. After she opened it, I realized who it was. "Hi, Willow!" she said, enthusiastically. I froze. I hadn't seen Willow in years, and, to my knowledge, I haven't gotten any uglier. Willow came in.

"Joey!" she yelled, running over and giving me a bear hug. Delia looked confused as Maddie pryed me from Willow's grasp.

"Who's that?" Delia asked.

"That's Willow," I told Delia. "Maddie's best friend and-"

"My boyfriend!" Willow yelled. Delia didn't look too impressed.

"Th-that's far from true," I said. "I was going to say biggest fear. I not kidding, Willow, you scare me."

"It's true," Maddie said. "Willow's liked Joey since forever!"

"And not once did we ever date," I added, proudly.

"He ain't lying," Maddie backed me up.

"Alright then," Delia said.

***Delia's POV***

I believed that Joey had never dated Willow. She seemed like the too crazed over someone type of girl. Willow wasn't shy. She was the complete opposite. She had enough courage around Joey for seven people. Willow around Joey was like a fangirl around the newest teen heartthrob. Joey didn't seem to go for those type of girls.

Maddie and Willow walked away.

"Willow," Maddie said. "I invited you here to tell you that I'm expecting a baby!"

"Aww, I'm so happy for you!" she said. Then her mood changed when she turned around. "Stay away from Joey," she growled, so only I could hear.


	9. Chapter 9

**Chapter 9**

***Joey's POV***

With Willow around, my relationship with Delia won't be in very good shape. Now that Maddie's home, I'll be seeing way more of her than I need to, which is none, I don't need to see her at _all._

***Delia's POV***

I'm not sure I'm a fan of Willow. She sounded very threatening. But she wasn't the worst of my problems. I still had a conference starting tonight and It was up to me to save the museum.

"Joey, what am I going to do about the museum?" I asked.

"Can I go?" he asked.

"I don't see why not," I replied. "Why?"

"In that case, I have some Ideas," he told me. "Come on."

***Maddie's POV***

Liv was in the room next to mine and Diggie's at the hotel. When I went back after hanging out with Willow, she knocked as soon as I got in.

"Come in, Liv, it's open!" I called.

"I haven't talked to you at all!" she said, coming in and sitting on the bed.

"Well with Dad's outburst yesterday, and the party today, we really haven't had the time," I said.

"So," she said. "How's the baby?"

"Good, I guess," I told her.

"You know, life turned out a lot different than I expected it would," Liv said.

"Really? How?" I asked.

"Well, I bet Mom and Dad thought I would be the first to have a boyfriend," she said.

"Well you were," I told her.

"Well, yeah, Miller," she said. "But I broke up with Miller. You fell in love with Diggie. You married Diggie. You-...are going to have Diggie's baby."

"Whatever," I said. I could tell Liv was trying not to smirk again. "Will you grow up!"

"Hey, I'm not the one who-"

"Shut up!" I screamed. Liv started laughing.

"You're so vulnerable!" Liv cried. I rolled my eyes.

***Joey's POV***

"So here's my plan," I said, showing Delia. "We show the board members some facts people learn at the museum and how much tthe visitor rates have incresaed in the last year." An unfinished line graph lay on my bed next to a copy of our original comic book. My laptop was also there, the browser open to the museum's webpage.

"Interesting plan," Delia remarked. I wasn't sure if she bought it. "Do you think you could make some sort of presentation?"

"Sure, if you want," I said, opening the program on my laptop.

"You have until tomorrow," Delia told me. "There are at least 3 other museums the board wants to close, so tonight, we only need to have a short meeting about who is trying to keep their museums open and their basic reasons. I think tomorrow we'll get into the more complicated debates."

"Sounds good," I said, beggining to work on the presentation."

***Diggie's POV***

I lay beside Maddie. I was scared to death for her and our baby. I just didn't show it because it might worry her. I rolled over to face her. Maddie opened her eyes and smiled at me. My heart melted. She's so beautiful.

"How're you doing?" I asked her.

"Good," she replied.

"That's good," I said, grinning back at her. "I love you."

"I've noticed," Maddie told me.

"Is the baby doing okay?" I asked.

"As far as I'm concerned," she said. I kissed her. I never wanted to be separeted from Maddie, ever. I just love her more than words can describe.


	10. Chapter 10

**Chapter 10**

***Delia's POV***

I sat in the conference room with Joey by my side. The previous night had gone great, but now we had to battle it out. Joey had his laptop with him. A finished presentation on it that would hopefully keep our museum open. I carried in my hand, a rolled up copy of our comic book. I slapped it nervously on my leg, hoping we wouldn't be next to present. These people had some really good presentations. I hadn't even seen the one Joey made. That's pretty pathetic, but I didn't have the time. I just hoped it was good enough.

Joey and I made our way to the front of the room to present. All of the other presentations had been good, but not _that_ convincing.

***Joey's POV***

We got this in the bag. The other representatives didn't have a viseo game nerd on their side. If I know anything, it's my way around a computer, and our presentation was going to blow the competion away.

***Delia's POV***

"I knew we had it in the bag," Joey said, as we confidently left the building.

"I didn't know you could do that!" I said. "That was mind-blowing!"

"Why thank you," Joey replied. "You want a ride back to the hotel?"

"Sure," I agreed, and we got in the car. "So, what are we going to do after I go back to Chicago?"

"I don't know," he replied. "I've never had a long distance relationship."

"Since I have to leave tomorrow, we can't do the comic book together in person. I was thinking we could do it by sending ideas back and forth," I suggested.

"Good idea," he replied. We arrived at the hotel shortly later.

"Here's my number," I said, scrawling it on a piece of paper.

"And mine," Joey said, doing the same. We exchanged the slips of paper and I made my way to the front of the hotel.

"Bye!" I called, as Joey pulled away.

"Bye!" he called from the window.

***Liv's POV***

On my way back home to Hollywood, I stopped by Mom and Dad's house to say goodbye. My plane left pretty early, so I had to set out early in the morning. I unlocked the door and went in. It didn't look like anyone was up yet. I wrote a note on a piece of paper and left it on the table.

_"Mom, Dad, Joey and Parker,_

_Hi, I came in to say goodbye but nobody was awake. By the time you read this I'm probably long out of town and on my way home. I've had a great time here these past few days but I have to get back to Hollywood._

_XOXO, Liv._

I quietly made my way back to the door and slipped out, locking the door behind me.

***Maddie's POV***

Diggie and I arrived back at our apartment. I headed into the bedroom and began to unpack. We had only been in a few minutes when the phone rang.

"Hello?" I answered.

"Hey, Mads," Liv said on the other end.

"Hi, Liv," I replied, flopping on my back on the bed.

"You just get home?" she asked.

"Yeah," I replied.

"How was the ride back?" she asked.

"Good," I told her

"How's the baby?" she asked.

"Good," I sighed. I was tired of people asking me that. I grabbed the basketball from the nightstand and shot it into the net on the opposite side of the room.

"Oh, I gotta go," Liv said. "Call on the other line."

"Alright, bye," I said.

"Bye," Liv replied, and I hung up.


	11. Chapter 11

**Chapter 11**

***Joey's POV***

I had taken a helicopter from Chicago to get here on time. Just ten minutes before I had been with Delia, working on the fourth issue of our comic book, and now I was in the waiting room of the hospital, awaiting the arrival of my newborn niece or nephew. Dad was on the other side of the room wringing his hands and Mom looked like she was going to cry. Liv was pacing back and forth across the room and Parker was sitting there complaining that he was missing his college robotics class. I was going to be an uncle, but I was terribly nervous for Maddie at the same time. April 23rd. That was the little one's birthday. I couldn't wait.

***Diggie's POV***

"It's okay, Maddie" I said, for the fifth time in an hour. I was shaking and sweating, and probably wasn't the most reassuring husband. I was probably more scared than she was. We had been visiting Stevens Point for Easter and shortly after turkey dinner, she collapsed on the floor, in labour.

"It's not okay!" Maddie yelled. "I'm in terrible pain!"

"I understand," I said.

"No, you don't!" she screamed. "How would you understand?! Have you ever done this?!" I kept my mouth shut.

***Liv's POV***

It took 3 hours! Is it supposed to take that long?! I waited 3 hours to see Maddie and my newborn nephew.

"Maddie," I said, slowly walking into the room. Mom, Dad, Parker and Joey were just behind me. Maddie held the baby in her arms, Diggie stood next to her. They both looked exhausted. Maddie was beaming. I walked over and gazed down on the baby's tiny face.

"His name is Alex," Maddie announced. A tear ran down her cheek. "Alex Bryce." Diggie's eyes were tearing up too.

"Can I hold him?" I asked.

" 'Course," Maddie said, carefully handing her son over to me.

***Maddie's POV***

Liv looked so proud to be an aunt when she held Alex. Mom was crying Dad was trying not to cry. Joey and Parker stood back out of the way but grinned at me when I looked over. Soon, the nurse brought Alex to the nursery so I could rest. My family left and Diggie and I were left alone.

"It's too good to be true," Diggie said, wiping his eye.

"We're parents," I said.

"I'm a Dad!" he said. It sounded like he was trying to convince himself.

"Can I rest now?" I asked him. "I haven't been more tired in my life."

"Sure," he said, getting into the bed. "I could use some rest myself."

"Good," I said, relieved.

"But one more thing," he said.

"What?" I asked.

"I don't think this is the most tired you've ever been,"

"What do you mean?"

"Remember the time we played basketball for seven straight hours? The time I accidentaly fell asleep in your bed?"

"Close call between the two," He smiled and wrapped his arm around me.

" 'Night," Diggie said, kissing me. Then we fell asleep.


	12. Chapter 12

**Chapter 12**

***Maddie's POV***

I stepped into our new house with a baby carrier in one hand and a suitcase in the other. Diggie, with the help of Jerry and Liv, had moved most all of our stuff in while I was in the hospital and this suitcase was the last of it.

Diggie took the suitcase into the bedroom and I followed him in. He had moved our bed in along with the basketball hoop and the rest of the stuff. He put my suitcase on the bed.

"Do you want to show Alex his new room?" Diggie asked.

"Sure," I replied, following him across the hall. The room was painted a lime green, with little dinosaurs all over the walls. Diggie and I had known that we were having a boy, although nobody else did.

"Like it?" he asked.

"Like it? I love it!" I told him. I walked over to the crib that was against the back wall. I carefully picked up a sleeping Alex from his carrier and lay him in his crib.

"He looks so sweet," Diggie said.

"He gets that from his daddy," I said, kissing Diggie. "It's getting late, we should go to bed too."

"Good Idea," he agreed, and we silently left Alex's room, closing the door behind us.

***Joey's POV***

I sat in Mom and Dad's living room with Delia. Delia had driven out the day before so we could continue our comic. Delia knew I was going to visit Maddie and Alex, so she had driven out and we were going to visit the next day.

Delia hugged my arm as typed. I smiled. It felt good to have someone that wasn't obsessed with me, love me.

"So," Delia said. "How about, here, Penelope is hunting a mink. But make it all action-y."

"Action-_y_" I repeated, humourously.

"You know what I mean," Delia snapped.

"You better get to your hotel so you can pack, we're flying out tomorrow, remember?" I told her.

"By the way, are we sharing a hotel room, there?" she asked.

"Yeah, it's cheaper," I said, she scowled. "What?"

"Yeah, 'cause it's cheaper," Delia mocked. "Not because we're dating or anything."

"It is cheaper," I said. "But two beds, nonetheless."

"Whatever," Delia sighed, rolling her eyes as she got up to leave. Did that mean anything? I was confused. I watched as Delia walked out the door. I decided that I might as well pack too, so I headed upstairs to my room.

***Delia's POV***

Okay, what I said may have come out wrong. I didn't mean I wanted to share a bed with Joey, I was just unimpressed with his cheapskate attitude. I had planned on saying 'whatever' after he brought up the cheaper thing again. I wasn't expecting him to say anything about two beds. I thought it was obvious. I just think it's awkward now that I know I gave him the wrong impression. That's also why I left so quickly. To avoid awkwardness. But now that I think about it, I shouldn't have left him hanging like that. Now he might over think it and get ideas that aren't true. Either way, there isn't a chance that, under these circumstances, that 'whatever' could have turned out for the best. I texted Jasmine.

"Hey, Jaz," I typed.

"Hey, Deels," she replied.

"Where are you these days?" Jasmine asked.

"Well mostly hanging with my boyfriend," I told her.

"How's the museum going?" she asked.

"Good," I typed in reply. "I've been taking time of, though because his sister just had a baby."

"Aww," Jasmine gawked. "You're going to meet the baby?"

"Yeah, his name is Alex." I texted. "Joey's an uncle!"

"Awesome, I guess you'll be aunt Delia sooner or later," Jasmine teased. I blushed.

"Anyway, I've gotta pack, we're leaving in the morning," I told her.

"K, see ya,"

"Bye,"


	13. Chapter 13

**Chapter 13**

***Joey's POV***

I sat in the car outside Delia's hotel, waiting for her to come out. Our flight left in an hour, and I was getting impatient. I didn't know how much longer I could wait to see my little nephew again.

Soon enough, Delia came out of the hotel and opened the car door.

"Unlock the trunk?" she asked. I hit a button on the dashboard and the trunk popped open. "Thanks." Delia put her bag in the back of the car, and after slamming the trunk shut again, she climbed into the passenger seat beside me.

"So, you haven't seen Alex yet," I said, starting the car.

"No," Delia replied. "But I want to."

We arrived at the airport a little early and boarded as soon as we could. We found seats together and waited out the plane ride while sketching Penelope for our comics.

We got to Maddie's house pretty late. It was going for 8:00 and I hoped Alex wasn't asleep yet.

***Maddie's POV***

The doorbell rang, I got up and answered it.

"Hey, Joey," I said, opening the door.

"Hey, Maddie," he replied. I hugged my younger brother. "Is Alex awake?"

"Yeah," I told him. "Diggie's playing with him in the family room." By this point, Alex was just over a week old. Nine days to be exact. I showed them to where Diggie was. Alex lay in a blanket in the middle of the floor. Diggie was holding a pink chicken with a rattler inside. He shook the little chicken.

"Alex!" he said, repeatedly. Alex payed no attention to his father, he was looking around at his surroundings. Then Diggie picked up a small rubber basketball that he had bought in the gift shop of the hospital. As soon as he did so Alex's little eyes darted to it. That's strange for someone that young.

"Wow," I said. "The little guy likes basketball already." Diggie looked upand smiled at me. I knelt down on the floor and carefully picked up my now drowsy son. He was falling asleep.

"Can I hold him?" Joey asked, kneeling down beside me.

"Sure," I replied. I gave Alex to Joey. Joey was glowing as he held him. I broad grin spread across his face. He was speechless.

Joey and Delia stayed a few hours after and we kind of took turns holding Alex. But soon they left to get a hotel room for the night.

"Bye, guys," Joey called. "We'll visit again tomorrow."

"See you then!" I said in reply as they left.

***Diggie's POV***

After Joey and Delia left, I went to put Alex to bed. Maddie had lay on the couch and she looked exhausted. It took a while to get Alex to sleep for the night. When his back hit the matress he started to cry. I suppose the sheets were cold compared to my arms. I rocked him until he fell back to sleep. Then I rubbed the spot where I was going to lay him with my hand until it warmed up. Then I tried again to lay my son down. Alex once again rejected the crib.

This time, I rubbed almost the entire matress up and down with my palm until the whole thing was warm. Then I once again carefully lay Alex on the matress. He thankfully stayed asleep. I silently closed the door and wiped my sweaty forehead with the back of my hand. I went back down the hall to the family room. Maddie was nearly asleep herself on the couch.

"You want me to carry you to bed too?" I asked, jokingly.

"Yeah," Maddie said. she was smirking even though she was half asleep. I lifted her off the couch and into our room, where, before long, we were both asleep.


	14. Chapter 14

**Chapter 14**

***Delia's POV***

I really didn't think I'd encounter her again, but I was wrong. When we went back to visit Maddie again, she was there. "_Stay away from Joey,_" echoed in my head when I saw her. Willow was sitting on the floor next to Maddie, playing with Alex. I froze, my breathing stopped. I'm pretty sure Joey stopped breathing too, but he did stop dead in his tracks. I felt like everything was in slow motion when she turned her head to face me.

"You," Willow said, looking directly at me. "What are _you_ doing here?"

"Visiting," I nervously said. Maddie looked scared. She had obviously never seen this side of Willow before.

"Why are you always around when Joey is?" she asked skeptically.

"Because I'm his girlfriend," I replied, honestly.

"You better just mean friend that's a girl," she said, in a low voice. I could practially see the rage rising inside of her. But being who I was, I decided to test her.

"Nope!" I said with pure confidence.

"What are you doing?!" Joey asked, frantically. I could see Willow's face turn red with anger. She looked like a bull ready to charge. Then I really took advantage of the situation. I swept Joey off his feet and planted a kiss on his lips. I grinned smugly.

"Why you little-!" Willow yelled, jumping up and attempting to charge at me. Maddie grabbed her arm and strained to hold her back. By this time Alex was asleep on the floor and completely oblivious to what was going on.

Joey ran over to help Maddie, who was struggiling to restrain Willow. He grabbed her other hand and pulled her back.

"Joey's holding my hand.." Willow muttered before swooning. The lack of force caused Maddie and Joey to tumble backwards onto the floor. Willow lay unconcious. I rolled my eyes. Maddie and Joey got up and Maddie brought Alex into his room to sleep in his crib.

***Joey's POV***

"Wow," I said, walking back over to Delia. "That girl's strong."

"I believe you," she replied.

"Why'd you do that?" I asked.

"For fun, I guess," Delia replied. "I wanted to see how angry she'd get. Had no Idea she'd run at me like a crazed lunatic."

"Well, if you haven't already noticed, Willow is a very over the top person." I said.

"Yeah," Delia agreed. "Guess I shoulda seen it coming." Maddie came back out from putting Alex in his crib. Willow was still unconcious on the floor. Soon, she started come around and Maddie told me to get out before she tried to attack Delia again. So, Delia and I booted it out of there before Willow woke up.

***Maddie's POV***

Joey had just closed the door when Willow sat up. I sighed with relief.

"What happened?" Willow asked.

"Uhhhhh," I stalled.

"Oh, I remember," Willow said. Getting up and clenching her teeth. "I remember exactly what happened."

"Err..." I quietly said.

"That _girl_, Delia, kissed Joey!" she angrily shouted. "When I get my hands on her..."

"Willow, calm down," I said, gripping my best friend by the shoulders. "You're gonna have to take the fact that Joey isn't into you."

"How dare you?!" Willow yelled.

"Willow, stop trying to deny it!" I told her. "It's the truth, accept it!"

"I guess you're right," Willow finally said.

"Thank you," I sighed, falling back onto the couch, thankful that this was finally over with.

Long after Willow had gone, I sat on the couch once more, this time rocking Alex to sleep. I heard Diggie come in. He'd had practice almost all day.

"Hey," he said, hanging up his coat.

"Hey," I said back. "How was practice?"

"Good," he replied.

"I think life took another step in the right direction today," I told him.

"Really? How?" Diggie asked.

"Willow's finally over Joey," I told him.

"Not something I thought I'd ever hear," Diggie told me, walking over and sitting down beside me. I grinned.

"He's asleep," I said, looking down at Alex.

"Aww," Diggie said. "I'll put him to bed." That was the night I realized life wasn't going to suck. Or at least be better than I thought it would. I lay back and smiled to myself. Actually, life was good, and that's how it always would be.

**The End!**


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